This handbook has been prepared by the School Canteen Advisory Committee following consistent requests for assistance, particularly in the areas of canteen management, employment of personnel and appropriate foods for sale in the school canteen.

The School Canteen Advisory Committee was established by the Department of Education and the Arts to promote and support the development of healthy school canteens and to provide advice and recommendations on all aspects of the planning, establishment and operations of a school canteen. The Committee is composed of representatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Tasmanian School Canteen Association, the Tasmanian Council of State School Parents and Friends Associations and industry bodies.

The content of the handbook is not prescriptive, and is an endeavour by the School Canteen Advisory Committee to provide local school canteen committees with practical assistance in the operation of their school canteen.

The Committee makes the following recommendations:

• that all school and college communities develop a canteen policy consistent with the guidelines offered in the School Canteen Handbook;
• that all school canteens provide a menu that follows the Dietary Guidelines for Children and Adolescents and sell only healthy and nutritional foods and beverages;
• that school canteens provide only foods that promote good dental health; and
• that schools provide adequate facilities for children to clean their teeth.

Further information on the operation of school canteens is available from:
 

The Convenor School Canteen Advisory Committee Department of Education, or GPO Box 919 Hobart, Tas. 7000 Tel: (03) 6233 7281

Tasmanian School Canteen Association Inc. PO Box 169 Sandy Bay, Tas. 7006 Tel: (03) 6278 0448

 

2. Introduction

The Secretary of the Department of Education supports the following statement regarding the establishment and operation of school canteens.

School canteens should be established to benefit children:

• by making it possible for children to buy nutritious and healthy food at competitive prices during the school day;
• by making it easier for children to remain within the school grounds during lunch-time for their own safety.
• through providing experiences of a variety of foods and dishes
• so that they support the skills and knowledge learnt in the classroom about food and nutrition
• through having the opportunity to be involved in decision making in the school.

• by charging prices which will allow moderate profits;
• by providing food which is attractive, nutritious and wholesome;
• by using volunteer labour wherever possible, to provide an avenue for parental involvement in the school.

Subject: Food Sold in School Canteens

Health Education is a high priority in the Education Department. and schools and colleges are encouraged to implement a comprehensive Health and Physical Education program.

The Health and Physical Education Guidelines in relation to nutrition, aim to ensure the development in students of healthy eating patterns and positive attitudes towards taking responsibility for their own health.

It is imperative that Principals ensure that the practice in their school canteens is consistent with the directions expressed in this Handbook. Particular emphasis should be placed on canteens providing and actively promoting the right kinds of food for students.

Principals and canteen committees should be familiar with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. A canteen policy which has these as a basis would be valuable as they encourage those in control of providing food to reduce health risks from poor nutrition without taking extreme measures. It is important to keep in mind that good nutrition is about:

• having knowledge and skills;
• making healthy food choices
• having healthy attitudes toward food
• having access to healthy food choices
• balance and moderation.

Particular reference should be made to reducing foods with a high fat content, due to clear evidence of their adverse effect on health.

Whether there is a canteen is a matter for individual school communities to determine. In recent years, however, a canteen has been included as part of the design of new primary and secondary schools. In addition, spare buildings at schools have been made available by the Department of Education and modified for use as canteens.

Because canteens have been opened and managed in schools according to local requirements, a wide range of conditions operate throughout the State. There are differences in management. Some canteens are operated by the Parents and Friends ‘ Association, some by the School Council and some by a leased operation. The differences in goods handled are wide and there are variations in the employment arrangements of canteen staff: for example, paid and voluntary labour and contract arrangements. In municipalities it is now necessary for canteen premises to be registered as an eating place and therefore inspected by local Council officers.

Secretary of the Department of Education
 

3. The role of the school canteen

The school, together with parents, has a responsibility to educate students about nutrition. As part of the school environment, the canteen is in a unique position to make a positive, worthwhile contribution to students’ health and welfare.

School canteens have several important functions:

• To provide a service to the school community.
• To provide a variety of nutritious and attractively presented food and drinks at a reasonable cost.
• To practically reinforce classroom nutrition education by supporting the objectives of the Health and Physical Education National Statement and Profiles and Health and Physical Education Core Curriculum K-10 published by the Department of Education, Tasmania 1998.
• To maintain high standards of hygiene in handling, preparing, serving and storage of food in line with the Food Safety Act,. 1998.
• To function as an efficient business by:
• offering a regular, high-quality service to the school community;
• operating at a break-even point or at a reasonable profit for the benefit of the school and, in turn, each child.
• Through involvement in the work of the canteen, parents can contribute:
• to setting educational goals and policies;
• can participate in the development or evaluation of a canteen policy; and
• can look at health and nutrition education in general.

4. The school canteen committee

A canteen committee is invaluable in helping to ensure an efficient and worthwhile service. More and more schools are setting up these committees to look after the wide range of issues relating to the canteen.

A committee not only allows the workload to be shared among a number of people, but also provides a wider forum so that different views and ideas can be considered.

The Tasmanian School Canteen Associations canteen operations manual ‘Management $ense Food Sense- the essential guide to food service in your school’, is a practical guide for operating a school canteen.

4.1 Membership

The membership of the canteen committee is decided by each school or parents’ association and can depend on the size of the school, those who are interested in being involved, and the expertise available from within the school community. For example, people with catering, accounting or business knowledge and experience can be extremely valuable in making management decisions. Where possible student representatives should be included. Membership should also include representatives from school staff, and other relevant community service providers.

4.2 Duties

The school or parents’ association determines the range of duties of the canteen committee.

These may include:

• assisting the association with the development of a canteen policy;
• selecting and appointing a convener or manager (with approval from the school or parents’ association);
• training, supporting, encouraging and acknowledging the efforts of paid and voluntary workers;
• fostering support for the canteen from the school community—this may include keeping people up-to-date with the latest canteen developments, explaining canteen policy and any changes to it, and raising the profile of the canteen;
• making decisions on what foods to sell and approving the selling prices of new items;
• establishing the required profit margin and appropriate budget control;
• producing a canteen menu and price list;
• developing new ideas and activities to link with classroom nutrition (The committee should aim to develop good communications with teachers and the principal: teamwork will bring the best results);
• monitoring the condition of facilities and equipment, and making recommendations to the school or parents’ association where necessary;
• ensuring a stock-take is carried out at the end of each term;
• presenting regular financial statements to the school or parents’ association;
• keeping the parents’ association well-informed on all canteen matters
• developing and approving marketing strategies for the canteen and for food items.

The process of developing a written policy statement will give direction for the development of the canteen and for the work of canteen staff.

The parents’ association, school personnel and local community members should be involved in developing such a policy. Through this involvement, a greater understanding of the canteen’s role can be achieved. This should result in greater commitment and agreement and will ultimately benefit all children in the school.

A policy statement should take into account Education and Health Department guidelines, nutritional advice, students’ learning experiences and the particular characteristics of the local community.

Getting started on canteen policy development:

1. Form a working party

The school community could establish a canteen committee to work toward a draft policy.

2. Build awareness and knowledge

Members of the school community may need to become aware of the connection between nutrition and health and the role of the canteen in encouraging healthy food choices. Awareness raising can be achieved in a variety of ways using appropriate physical and human resources from the wider school community.

3. Find out what is already happening

The following questions may provide useful starting points:

• Is there an existing written canteen policy?
• How and when was this developed?
• Who knows about it?
• Is it being implemented?
• How often is it being reviewed?
• Which foods are being sold?
• Which foods are the best sellers and why?
• What are current pricing arrangements?
• How are decisions made about the menu and pricing?

• How is this policy implemented in the classroom?
• Are the two areas of canteen and classroom complementary?

Gather ideas about nutritious canteen foods and ways of promoting new products.

Find out what people think

• Run a school canteen survey. Students can help design the survey and collect results. Teachers could help students have them completed and returned.
• Arrange discussions for parents, teachers and students in a variety of settings.
• Use regular newsletters to invite comments.
• Try to build agreement about canteen management and menus.
• Canvass views about what the canteen is, or should be selling.
• Ensure that any discussion about the preferred range and types of food is guided by accurate information about nutrition.

A draft policy could include the following:

• A statement about the purpose of the canteen
• Some principles to guide those with the responsibility for implementing the policy, for example:

(a) A statement about the general nutrition guidelines to be followed in selecting food for sale; such as the ‘Australian Dietary Guidelines’ or ‘Children and Adolescents, the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating’ and ‘The Healthy Eating Pyramid’.

(b) A statement about the role of volunteers in the canteen, including reference to the valuable nature of their services, the opportunities provided through the canteen to contribute to the welfare of students and the work of the school.

(c) Statements about aspects of management of the canteen:

• an outline of the various groups and individuals and their respective responsibilities;
• a description of the working and reporting relationships between groups;
• an outline of the basis on which prices are to be set and profit margins determined and who has the responsibility and authority to set prices;
• an outline of how decisions will be made about using profits from the canteen;
• an outline of the criteria and responsibilities for the introduction of new items into the canteen;
• reference to the need for promotion of the canteen within the school and the wider community, particularly the parent body;
• a statement about how and when the policy is to be reviewed
• use of the canteen for other purposes such as fundraising, catering for functions, fetes, etc..

The draft policy statement could be widely circulated for further comment and discussion. This may lead to amendments or additions to the policy.

7. Develop a detailed implementation plan

Each of the statements of principle in the policy could then be spelt out in a more detailed way so that it is quite clear how they will be applied. For example:

(a) The statement about general nutrition guidelines could list the types of food to be sold, and perhaps, even the types which will not be sold.

(b) The role of volunteers could be described. This may include the kind of work they will be asked to do, the ways in which they can contribute to the development of the canteen, the ways in which involvement with the canteen will allow them to contribute to the school, the ways in which the assistance of volunteers will be sought and the ways in which appreciation of their contribution will be shown.

(c) The functions and duties of those groups and individuals with management tasks could be detailed.

(d) The procedures to be followed in seeking to alter prices or introduce new products could be determined.

(e) Guidelines could be formulated for disseminating information about the value of the canteen and canteen staff throughout the school community.